


I See Blue Skies

by Demenior



Series: Cuddle House [11]
Category: Animorphs - Katherine A. Applegate
Genre: Hork-Bajir, Multi, Queer Character
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-10-30
Updated: 2013-10-30
Packaged: 2017-12-30 22:42:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1024262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Demenior/pseuds/Demenior
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cassie goes to visit the Hork-Bajir on official business and stumbles into a rather exciting surprise. Later on, she gets to break the news to everyone over dinner. As usual, nothing goes easy for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I See Blue Skies

**Author's Note:**

> The Hork-Bajir are literally like my favourite alien species ever. Everything about them makes me wanna drown in adorable (except for the really heartbreakingly sad stuff).  
> The rest of the kids will show up in part 2 which will be uploaded at a later date.  
> Most of the Hork-Bajir cultural things are total headcanons by yours truly.

One of the best moments of Cassie’s work was the time she got to spend in the valley with the Hork-Bajir.

Tobias frequented the area, and Ax would stop by to spend time with Toby. He still claimed he was helping her with politics and intergalactic treaties but everyone knew they’d grown fond of each other and enjoyed one anothers’ company as friends who had never been, and never desired to be, human. They also had an ongoing game of risk that they only managed to get to every few weeks and wouldn’t allow anyone else to touch.

They all tried to visit as much as they could—especially since the Hork-Bajir had been their refuge at the end of the war, and they could never truly repay that sort of kindness. That, and, the Hork-Bajir were friends.

“Cassie!” Ket Halpak called excitedly as soon as Cassie walked into the open. She’d been aware of a few Hork-Bajir leaping about overhead as she hiked up—was sure one of them was Bek because he tried to sneak up on her—but none of them had acknowledged her until now.

Many heads in the clearing snapped up, and Cassie saw several snake-like necks pop out of treetops to see her. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Hello!” she called.

A Hork-Bajir leapt out of the tree just beside her, and held his arms out for a hug.

“Hi, Bek,” she grinned, and landed in to embrace him.

Hugs weren’t a natural Hork-Bajir behavior, and something they had picked up from the humans. They only hugged the Animorphs—as far as Cassie was aware—and the hugs consisted of the Hork-Bajir standing still with their arms to the side, with the humans embracing them and the Hork-Bajir resting their head on top of the humans’ so no one got hurt. They were strange at first, but Cassie welcomed the interaction now.

Bek was seven feet tall now, and big even for a Hork-Bajir. He was a bit of an imp and liked to play pranks on everyone—the Animorphs especially—and delighted in watching them morph. She knew for a fact that he and Toby might have a _thing_ even though Toby was still very focused on establishing the Hork-Bajir’s security in the world before even thinking about starting a family. They were still young, so there was no rush. Toby had confided in Cassie that Bek had brought her flowers wrapped in delicious bark once. It was all very sweet.

“Come play?” Bek asked.

“No,” Cassie shook her head, “no fun today.”

Bek looked hurt and Cassie felt bad, “I’m here on business today—but next time Tobias comes by I’ll see if I can’t go with him. Jake too.”

Bek was especially fond of Jake and tried imitating him whenever Jake was around—he seemed to think that being like Jake would make Toby respect him more.

Bek thumped his chest and snorted in agreement. Ket reached them and opened herself up for a hug, to which Cassie happily obliged.

“How are you, Ket?” Cassie asked.

“Eat very good, much bark in trees,” Ket replied, “forest is very healthy. Hork-Bajir are happy. Lots of little ones.”

“I can’t wait to meet them. We’ll have to have another camping trip,” Cassie said. Bek and his friends hooted in agreement.

“You came for the Seer?” Ket asked, “Toby spends much time inside. Keeps her focused—go see her!”

“We’ll come by for a social visit, I promise,” Cassie said to both her and Bek, and made her way to the standing buildings in the center of the clearing. They were the remnants of where she and the other Animorphs and their families had lived out the end of the war. Toby had taken over one of them—where Jake had stayed, alone—as her own personal office. The others were left standing for the times the Animorphs came to visit, and also because Cassie had heard the younger Hork-Bajir children liked to play ‘human’ and learn about human things by playing in them.

While all the windows were open and skylights had been placed on the roof to keep it as sunny and airy as possible, Cassie still knocked at the door before letting herself in.

All of the previous furniture had been removed. The only thing inside was a very tall desk with large pens and pencils for Toby to do some legal work with, and many filing cabinets to keep track of all of her papers. Only that and _two_ Hork-Bajir.

Toby pulled away, turning to face Cassie as soon as she entered, “Cassie!” she said excitedly.

Cassie didn’t recognize the other Hork-Bajir—with all of the freed Hork-Bajir coming and going in the valley it was difficult to remember all of the faces.

“This is Cas—Casan Dara,” Toby introduced the other female.

Cassie tried not to blush as she heard the familiarity to her own name—many of the younger Hork-Bajir had names inspired by or similar to the Animorphs’. Toby was the only one named after Tobias.

Casan held out her long arm, clawed fingers spread, in a Hork-Bajir handshake. Cassie pressed her palm to Casan’s soft scales and delighted in how her fingers were barely half the length of Casan’s. The Hork-Bajir were incredible creatures, and Cassie was so happy they were finding a life on Earth.

“Good to meet friend Animorph,” Casan said, “and with pretty name.”

“Your name is lovely too,” Cassie smiled, “and it’s wonderful to get to meet new friends.” They let their hands pull apart.

“I will go now. Keep bark for you?” Casan asked Toby.

Toby shook her head, “No, it’s okay. I will be here late. I will see you later.”

Casan and Toby repeated the same handshake, though it seemed to last a good deal longer than Cassie’s had. Cassie had to step to the side to give Casan enough room to move out without hurting anyone.

“Casan seems nice,” Cassie said, and then adopted a slyer tone, “so I ran into Bek outside. How is that going?”

Toby huffed, going back to the papers on her desk, “There is nothing to ‘be going’, Cassie! I’m too busy for Bek.”

“Why not get him involved in helping you, like Casan. _Is_ she helping you?” Cassie asked.

Toby blushed—her belly going from a light green to a bright yellow, and her horns took on a slightly purple shade. Cassie was nearly taken aback. She’d never seen the Seer react so vividly to anything before.

“Toby… what’s going on?” Cassie pried.

Toby shifted on her feet, finally sitting down on her haunches. She was huffing embarrassedly, and her tail was twitching.

“I… you and the others… _yes_. Casan is helping me. She has been very nice and a good friend. It is nice to have a female friend to talk with about female things.”

“Sure is,” Cassie smiled, “I don’t know what I’d do in our house if I didn’t have Rachel.”

Toby tapped the horns on her head nervously, “But I think there is something wrong, with me. When I am with Casan I want to be with her… the way I want to be with Bek,” Toby’s head slunk down until she was all but cowering between her massive shoulder blades.

“Oh, _oh_ ,” Cassie said, and moved closer. She reached out slowly to touch Toby’s arm and kneeled just out of range of the Seer’s blades.

“Toby,” she said softly, “there’s nothing wrong with you.”

Toby huffed and nodded, “I am sorry—wrong was the incorrect word. I… I meant _different_. I do not want to be different any more than I already am. I’m the Seer, I will never truly belong among my people, and now I have feelings that are not common among my people either.”

“This isn’t a thing among the Hork-Bajir?” Cassie asked.

Toby shook her head, “Not like among humans.”

Cassie shrugged, “It’s not as… well, accepted, among humans as we would hope. I understand feeling really different. It’s alie—it’s strange. Makes you feel like an outcast for just being who you are.”

“I heard old tales—from old Hork-Bajir long dead,” Toby said, “that the Hork-Bajir on the home world didn’t about gender and instead prized relationships and happiness. Sometimes these resulted in children, sometimes not. But if everyone was happy then there was nothing to be said against it. When the Yeerks came they sorted us into binaries for… _breeding_ ,” Toby spat the word and Cassie didn’t blame her, “and that has changed us. What I feel may have been natural for the Old Hork-Bajir but it is not anymore. And worse… I feel the natural things for… for Bek too.”

She was so yellow Cassie thought she was likely glowing. It was almost endearing to see her so flustered. “That’s okay, honestly,” Cassie said, “it’s okay to have these feelings.”

Toby clicked her beak in frustration, “But it would be so easy to just be with Bek. I could be _almost_ normal. But I feel it would be wrong to deny my feelings for Casan just so I could be normal. How do you do it? Your relationship is not standard for humans, is it?”

Cassie shook her head, and made herself more comfortable on the floor, “No. We’re fairly abnormal. To be honest, currently, what we are doing is nearly illegal. We can’t get married, not all of us, because human laws say it has to be one man and one woman. Our families still aren’t very happy with our choices, and we don’t always get along either. We can’t reveal our real relationships to the public or else they would shun us. It’s very difficult.”

“Then why do it at all?” Toby asked, “it must be such hard work with so many to pay attention to.”

“It is,” Cassie sighed, “but at the end of the day, after all we’ve been through, they’re the ones that understand me. They make me happy. And I’m in love with them, for all different reasons and in all different ways. I’ll be honest—it’s hard, a lot, from day-to-day. I just want to be normal sometimes, I want to have a husband and I want a home to ourselves and I want to be able to show the world the person I love most. But instead I have five people I love that much, and when I think about it, that’s really so much better.”

“Could I make… an arrangement like that work?” Toby mused out loud, and then shook her head, “I don’t know if my people could comprehend such a thing.”

“Well it would solve all of your problems,” Cassie smiled.

Toby made a tutting sound with her mouth, “They are both very attractive Hork-Bajir. Have you seen Bek’s beak?” she asked, and nodded to herself, “and Casan has lovely horns. They make an elegant shape for her face.”

“They both seem very nice,” Cassie offered.

“They are,” Toby sighed, “I just don’t know which one to pick.”

“Do what your heart tells you,” Cassie said, “everything will fall into place.”

“I don’t know what my heart is saying! Hork-Bajir hearts do not talk like human hearts,” Toby replied, “I am not good at this peacetime. I devised _strategies_ to test each of them to see who cares for me most.”

Cassie burst out laughing.

“But I know that is not right!” Toby continued, “or fair. To _either_ of them.”

Cassie stifled her giggling, “Toby… why do you have to decide now? Is there any rush?”

“I feel very confused and I can’t focus,” Toby mumbled. The Seer let out a long wheezing breath, “it is getting very frustrating trying to focus on my important work when all I can think about are how lovely their long tails are or how Bek has a toe that is slightly darker than the others and it’s a silly detail but I seem to find it especially endearing.”

“It means you’re infatuated,” Cassie said, “and it’s a feeling you should _always_ have about whomever you are with. This morning Jake was trying to put on his shirt— but it turns out it was Marco’s shirt because it was too small and he got stuck in it and walked into the door frame. He actually gave himself a black eye before he morphed out of it,” Cassie laughed at the memory, “and it was so ridiculous all I could think was how much I love him. Doorframes and all.”

Toby laughed with her, imaging Jake from this morning.

“You can’t tell him I told you,” Cassie added.

“Only if you inform me of embarrassing things the Andalite has done,” Toby replied, “I need more ways to distract him. He is very easy to manipulate once you get to know him.”

Cassie smiled ruefully, “Yes, he is. But you know he’s very fond of you—holds you in high regard.”

Toby looked shocked, “The Andalite? Really?”

“I’ll talk to him about being a little nicer,” Cassie winked, “he’s very fond of you, we all are. And so impressed with what you’ve accomplished.”

Toby got back to her feet, her blush dying down. She was still embarrassed about being so emotional, “Yes… yes. Thank you. You came here for work, not a social call, though. I’m sorry to waste your time.”

“You’re never wasting my time,” Cassie replied, “you’re like family to us.”

Toby made a cooing sound that was nearly dove-like to Cassie’s ears. It meant Toby was pleased.

“Where did you want to start?” Toby asked, gesturing to the stacks of papers she had.

“The southern boundaries,” Cassie nodded, “Marco and Ax came up with some good points as to how we can rewrite your appeal to make it more pleasing and comprisable to the senate.  It should mean it’ll get approved faster with only a few changes.”

“I like that,” Toby said.

Cassie pulled out her notebook and pens, “It’s a good start.”


End file.
